On-line document collaboration systems are used to facilitate the exchange of business transaction documents via a secure Internet website. These systems are particularly useful in situations in which multiple versions of a document are exchanged among multiple users who store and retrieve documents to and from a database. Versions of different documents may be presented in an organized manner allowing retrieval of both current and prior versions of each of the documents involved. Examples of on-line document collaboration systems are described in US Pub No. 2002/0107768 and US Pub No. 2008/0313186. On-line document collaboration systems are also useful for the posting of various documents in a database for review or consideration by other parties having access to the system, serving as electronic due diligence “data rooms” in business acquisition transactions.
In many cases documents are exchanged or presented for review in an environment involving multiple parties on different sides of a transaction. For example, document drafts may be exchanged between a buyer and seller of a business (and their attorneys and advisers). Due diligence documents relating to a seller's business may be reviewed by the prospective buyer prior to and during the negotiation of purchase transaction documents. The interests of these parties differ and would in many cases be considered “adverse.” While full document access for all parties is desirable, some transaction information should not be shared with all parties.
A useful attribute of on-line document collaboration systems is the ability to monitor who has accessed the system and how frequently that access has occurred, what specific documents on the system have been reviewed and the time spent reviewing them, what documents have been downloaded or printed, and other similar data (“system usage data”). In prior art systems, however, access to system usage data is only available to the party who has contracted for the document collaboration service. In the case of on-line data room services, this system usage data is typically available only to the seller who has set up the data room.
System usage data has many confidential or otherwise sensitive components. For example, which of a party's executives have accessed the system and which documents they reviewed (or for how long) would often be considered confidential, and potentially could be used in subsequent litigation to show the role or knowledge of particular employees. On the other hand, the ability to review access history provides a valuable tool to manage the due diligence or contract negotiation process. The present invention addresses the tension between providing open and visible document database to all parties and the desirability of collecting and making available more confidential system usage data.